Philip Rivers calls career back after ‘three blurry games’ with Colts
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Philip Rivers announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday after leaving high school football coaching to play for the Indianapolis Colts.
Rivers appeared on “Up & Adams” before the end of the year and said that this time he was really done and that he was going to focus on the team he coaches.
“I’m done,” Rivers said. “I have a son who is going to be a senior and I have the St. Michael’s football team ready. They beat us in the semifinals two years in a row,” Rivers said. “So, it will be his last year. My second son will be in ninth grade. They will be on the same team together.
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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers speaks at a news conference after a game against the San Francisco 49ers, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
“So it’ll be fun to come home to the kids. The school has been very excited. A lot of them came to the game last week. It’ll be fun. It’ll kick off our offseason program, to say the least. Maybe the things I tell them they’ll take a little more seriously now that I’ve been playing.”
Rivers said he knew he was done for 2020 and that returning this season to replace Daniel Jones, who tore an Achilles tendon, was the perfect time.
He said if any other team had called, there would have been no chance of him doing what he did.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers runs off the field after a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
COLTS’ PHILIP RIVERS HOPES EMOTIONAL RETURN OF NFL PROVIDES INSPIRATION
“Everything was aligned,” he said. “It was a place I had been, a team I was familiar with, the offense was exactly the same. The coach I knew. It was all those things that made it the perfect storm.
“I’m back on the bench. It was a fun, blurry three weeks that no one saw coming, including me, and that’ll be it.”
The Colts will go with Riley Leonard for the final game of the season.
Rivers, 44, was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame before deciding to turn back his retirement clock to join the Colts. Indianapolis couldn’t get a win with Rivers under center.
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He had 544 passing yards, four touchdown passes and three interceptions in those three starts.
Rivers will walk away with 63,984 passing yards, 425 passing touchdowns and an incredible story to tell.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor at News Digital.